Treating Bipolar Disorder with Sleep Medication

Good health has three main pillars: a nutritious diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep. All three of these are vital for anyone to stay healthy, but they’re essential when you have a mental health disorder such as bipolar disorder. 

Sleep disturbances are intricately linked to bipolar disorder as they can be both a trigger for and a result of bipolar disorder symptoms. So, finding a way to get healthy, restful sleep is of the utmost importance when you have bipolar disorder. 

Because of that, our team led by Venice Sanchez, MD, at her practice in Newport Beach, California, wants you to better understand the relationship between sleep and bipolar disorder and how to improve your sleep habits. 

Sleep and bipolar disorder

When you have bipolar disorder, you can often struggle with the following sleep issues:

• Insomnia: not able to fall asleep or stay asleep
• Decreased need for sleep
• Irregular sleep-wake schedules 
• Irregular REM cycles, causing vivid dreams
• Hypersomnia: sleeping for long periods

During a manic episode, you can often feel aroused enough that you can run little to no sleep. Sleep deprivation can often trigger a manic episode as well. On the flip side, a depressive episode can cause you to sleep far too much. Too much sleep can also trigger depressive episodes. 

By recognizing your sleep patterns, you can discover more about your moods and manic or depressive episodes. 

How to get better sleep

Because poor sleep can trigger manic or depressive episodes, you must find a way to get good sleep. If you want to avoid medication, these are some things you can try to improve your sleep habits:

• Eliminate caffeine late in the day
• Only use your bedroom for sleeping, not working or watching TV
• Avoid exercise right before bed
• Turn off screens one hour before you go to sleep
• Eliminate noise and other distractions from your bedroom
• Keep your bedroom dark and at a comfortable temperature 
• Stick to a strict bedtime routine and sleep schedule 

If these practices aren’t effective enough to help you get good sleep, sleep medications are an option. These can range from full-on sedatives to other kinds of prescription medications that have a sedating effect. Often, starting with a more natural method like melatonin can be helpful if you aren’t ready for sedatives. 

Start prioritizing better sleep today

When you have bipolar disorder, sleep disturbances are almost guaranteed. Making sleep a priority can help you establish good sleep habits and reduce the severity of your disorder’s symptoms as a result.

To learn more about healthy sleep habits or sleep medications that are available to you, schedule an appointment with our team by calling our office or booking online today.